The Syracuse Orange got what it needed to beat West Virginia on Monday night out of its loss at Louisville on Saturday.

Syracuse, which had lost six of its last eight games to fall to 9th-place in the Big East Conference standings, had rallied from a 20-point second-half deficit at 16th-ranked Louisville, closing to within three points in the game’s final minutes.

The Orange lost that game, but gained something important, too.

“We learned from the Louisville game that we had some toughness,’’ Syracuse guard Scoop Jardine said.

So when Syracuse retreated to its locker room at halftime, trailing West Virginia by a 30-26 margin, the Orange players, who had not won a home game in nearly a month, shared none of the angst that gripped the 22,669 fans in attendance at the Carrier Dome.

“We weren’t rattled,’’ Jardine said. “I feel like when came out, we knew we had another 20 minutes to play.’’

Syracuse shut down West Virginia’s offense in the second half, holding the Mountaineers to just 22 points on 7-for-25 shooting from the field. The Orange rode that defensive effort to a crucial 63-52 victory.

West Virginia’s Casey Mitchell, who made 7 out of 12 shots from 3-point range for the game, scored 12 of his game-high 23 points in the second half, but the rest of the Mountaineers could do nothing against the Orange’s defense.

“We found Mitchell,’’ Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim said. “Once we took Mitchell away, that’s who they were going to, we took that away and they tried going inside and we made some plays in there.’’

West Virginia made 11-of-22 shots from 3-point range, but the Mountaineers made only six shots that were taken inside the 3-point line. Syracuse out-scored West Virginia 34 to four on points in the paint. Syracuse’s big men, specifically 6-9 senior Rick Jackson, shut down the interior on the defensive end of the court.

“When we got to Mitchell, we did a good job defensively inside,’’ Boeheim added. “Ricky was a monster. He did just a great job in there.’’

The win broke a three-game home losing streak for Syracuse, which improved to 21-6 overall and 8-6 in the Big East. West Virginia fell to 16-9 overall and 7-6 in the conference.

“It was real big,’’ Jackson, who had 10 points and nine rebounds, said of the victory. “We’ve been losing games. I think this was a great confidence game for us.’’

Boeheim jabbed at the anxiety that had arisen during the Orange’s recent 2-6 stretch, but he also acknowledged the importance of Monday’s game.

“This was a good win for us – in a situation where you need to win,’’ Boeheim said. Syracuse has just four regular season games remaining. “We still have a lot of work to do and it’s going to be very difficult. You can lose every game you play in this league. That’s the bad news. The good news is I think you can win every game you play in this league.’’

West Virginia, which ranks 12th in the Big East in 3-point shooting percentage, went 7-for-13 in the first half to take a 30-26 halftime lead. John Flowers converted an offensive rebound for an easy bucket to start the second half, increasing WVU’s lead to six points.

Syracuse then went on a 17-to-3 run, turning the 6-point deficit into a 43-35 lead with 15 minutes remaining in the game. The Orange extended its advantage to 51-42 on C.J. Fair’s runner in the lane with 11 minutes left.

But West Virginia scored seven straight points to tighten the game up again, closing to within 51-49 on Kevin Jones’ 15-foot jumper. In the midst of WVU’s rally, Triche picked up his fourth foul. Triche had 18 points when he went to the bench with 9:37 remaining and the Orange leading 51-45.

Triche re-entered the game with 7:55 to go and Syracuse ahead by two points. In just over a minute, he picked off two steals and then converted a drive to the basket that increased SU’s lead to 57-49 at the 6:33 mark.

“Brandon’s been very aggressive,’’ Boeheim said. “I think that’s important for our team. He is a scorer.’’

Syracuse’s defense took over from there, holding West Virginia to just three points the rest of the way. The Mountaineers didn’t score a single point in the game’s last five minutes.

“It’s big, really big,’’ Jardine said. “After playing a tough team like Louisville to come play West Virginia where you can honestly get beat. We had our backs against the ropes. I give my teammates and coaches a lot of credit because we fought. We fought as a team and as a family. It’s going to be like that from here on out. It’s us against everybody.’’